Slab-tober

This is going to be one of those posts most card bloggers loathe: a showoff post (gasp!) that involves selling a significant card (gasp!!) to buy graded cards (GASP!!)

I wasn't even sure I wanted to share this with the group, but this was years in the making. As you may recall I sold my Alex Ovechkin SP Authentic RC, shown here:

total received: $6,008.75

I also consigned two other cards which sold for a combined $820. In total I raked in just shy of 7k. Setting aside 3k for home improvement projects and Christmas gifts left me with just under $4,000 to build my graded card PC.

Behold ! My Summer of slabs September of slabs Slab-tober spoils!

total spent: $1,224.00

I'd never considered acquiring RCs of Mario Lemieux or Patrick Roy, they were condition sensitive and out of my price range. Mario is super undervalued compared to Gretzky's RC but his OPC is hard to find centered (did the best I could but it's still 80/20) Roy's RCs often have a speck of blue ink in the name bar. Took me a long time to find a centered copy with no ink speck. 

total spent: $447.83

This was somewhat of an impulse buy. I had planned to purchase a 1987-88 Fleer Michael Jordan in Near Mint condition, but I wasn't satisfied with the centering - and it's a $600+ card. Considering I don't like Mike (and never have) it seemed like too much money to spend on a pure investment. Instead I spied this Mint condition card of the guy who went #1 ahead of MJ in the 1984 draft. I was always an Olajuwon fan, and the only reason I never owned this card was because Star made everything confusing for me. 

Honestly I'd rather have this Akeem card, but it isn't his first Star card. His first Star card is waaay out of my price range, and both/all of them have card backs that look like unlicensed knockoffs. 

Total spent: $346.50

Here's a couple of LT rookies. I always liked Tomlinson, and his RC was $60 more than Taylor's. The OG LT strikes a thoughtful pose on his '82 Topps single, which is appropriate since I've thought long and hard about how a player's off-field character factors into my collecting choices. Short answer: it's complicated. Perhaps I'll dig deeper into this topic one day. 

Total spent: $647.20

Add A-Rod to that discussion. Ergh..I got those plastic display stands so I wouldn't have to scan slabbed cards, but the lighting in my card room is horrible. Ebay's authenticity wrappers are distracting and  unnecessary. I haven't broken the seal on any of them, but it's tempting. 

Total spent: $597.03

No character issues with these legendary aces. These '60s singles were roughly the same price, yet Koufax didn't have to pass through eBay's authenticity program. Perhaps because it was purchased from a Canadian seller? Palmer was one of the few 1960s-70s greats that wasn't represented in my PSA box. I actually prefer this second-year single to his '66 Topps rookie card. 

Total spent: $452.53

Joe Montana's rookie card is an infamous part of my collecting life. In my early teen years it was a 'grail' card, one that I could only afford because the owner of my LCS was friendly with my mom and allowed me to make payments. It took me all summer, but I paid off the shop owner and had my Montana card. Shortly after, when Mom argued with me about my sports card "obsession" and accused me of caring more about my cards than my family... I ripped it up right in front of her.

Mom stared at me slack-jawed, and after a second or two she said "well, that was dumb."

For a long time I thought about replacing the Montana RC, but whenever I saw one it brought back that unpleasant memory. It was time to patch that hole in my collection. 

And that brings the total to $3,715.09. There was also a Jack Eichel rookie card and a Terry Sawchuk that I'll scan up and discuss some other time. The pictures from my phone are just too blurry :/

Obviously this all happened at the worst possible time. It seemed frivolous to spend so much on trading cards, but that's how long it took to re-slab the Ovechkin, get it back from Beckett, consign it with 4 Sharp Corners, and receive my payout. Acquiring these cards in particular has helped me focus on which cards I would prioritize in order to consider my collection 'complete' and after this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, that list is much shorter. 

I've got a post or two planned to track my vintage base and modern-ish rookie card collection and where these news slabs slot into those lists, plus that project on overlooking(or not) great players with bad reputations. 

Thanks for reading!


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Breaking up is hard to do

For a short time I wondered which vintage set I would complete first: 1956 Topps, or 1961 Golden Press. 

This set was never a priority, just something I've been plugging away at, bit by bit, because I thought the cards were very appealing and undervalued. There was a chance I would complete this set first without trying too hard, because it's only 33 cards. Basically, Golden Press selected the 32 greatest players of the first half of the 20th century*, plus Manager John McGraw. 

*Ted Williams was not included, presumably because he'd just retired - or perhaps it was a licensing issue. 

Here's what I have as of today:

One more card would put me at exactly 2/3 completion. These are the cards I need:

Ruth, Gehrig, and DiMaggio??? Uggghhh. The only low-hanging fruit left is Baker. Or maybe Dean. 

As much as I love this set, priorities have shifted and collecting focus has narrowed as a result. 

I still plan to finish the 1956 Topps set. I'm about 40 cards away and a good chunk of those are team cards, league presidents, and the two checklists. All of the non-players (and most of the remaining players) are much more expensive that I realized, even in low grade. I could understand the checklist - most kids wrote on them or threw them out. I could understand Will Harridge, he's card #1. 

But why is the White Sox team card $50+, graded or ungraded?!?!

My collection is just about where I want it, in that I've sold or traded nearly everything that had more financial value than sentimental value. If I'm going to tackle those pesky team cards and miscellany, '61 Golden Press will have to go. 

I can put together another consignment order, ship it out to 4 Sharp corners, and have my money in time for Black Friday if I send them out this week. But which ones do I part with?

"Jimmy" Foxx is the only Red Sox single, so that's an easy choice for the 'keeper' pile. 

I've got a lot of Giants and Athletics, (obviously from before their Bay Area era.) Definitely want to keep one from each team. Carl Hubbell and Lefty Grove are Mint 9s, so they'll stay. Then it's a tough call between Nap Lajoie, Mickey Cochrane, and Al Simmons. 

The rest of the 9's - George Sisler, Charlie Gehringer, and Pie Traynor - should probably go in the 'sell' pile, since they're the best chance I have to make any decent money. But I might keep one of them. 

Rogers Hornsby and Walter Johnson are arguably the biggest names in my set build. If they were a grade higher I'd have to consider selling them, but I'll hold onto them for now. 

The catcher cards are nice, and I'm tempted to hold on to either Cochrane or Gabby Hartnett. Still haven't completely committed to collecting catchers though. 

After looking over the entire collection I've decided to sell 2/3 of my 2/3, which means these seven will stay:

 

Once the other fourteen sell, I'll split the funds evenly between Christmas gifts and '56 singles. 

There might be another surprise or two on the way before then ;)

Thanks for reading!



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The Clemente Curse ?

I'm somewhat adjusting to life without my wife. It's much more hectic, and there's hardly room to relax and enjoy my collection. But it still serves a purpose in my life. 

Still, I do plan to functionally retire from card collecting after this year. I'll always love the hobby but the new stuff is overpriced, the products are uninspiring, and the players are increasingly difficult to cheer for - with some exceptions, of course. 

And so, I'm in the middle of mapping out an exit strategy. Tying up some loose ends and putting a bow on the whole collection. Eyeing stuff I like while prioritizing long-term investments. And, given our current political climate, I've turned my attention toward trailblazing, barrier-breaking legends like Roberto Clemente. 

Years ago, before COMC destroyed itself with greed, I purchased a 1968 Topps "Bob" Clemente card on the site for just under $20. '68 Topps was the first vintage set I ever saw and therefore it had always been my go-to. If I could, I would have accumulated every HOFer in the '68 set, but considering the Ryan and Bench RCs command hundreds apiece even in average condition, that idea was quickly scrapped. 

I'm an outlier among collections with my appreciation for the burlap design - and most old-school collectors loathe grading as well. But here's why I love it. The ungraded Clemente card I bought from COMC was diamond cut. I sold it right away, at a loss of about $5. 

Strike one.

One other Clemente card I purchased on COMC was sold for a profit. But I really wish I hadn't.

I somehow scooped up this Tier One bat relic for $12.99 on the site in 2018.  For some reason that escapes me, I flipped the card for $32.00. $19 profit, yay. Relics are a dime a dozen... but not Roberto Clemente relics, you idiot. 

Strike two.

Lesson learned. Buy graded vintage, screw COMC, don't sell anything until the girls are ready to go to college (or if the US economy crumbles and I need quick cash) 

Longtime readers of this blog may recall that I cashed in a Mike Trout RC and had the option to buy a 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle (BVG 6) or a Roberto Clemente 1971 Topps (PSA 7). I chose Mantle. That seemed to make the most sense. 

I chose wrong. 

The Mick converts to a PSA 4-5, which is about a $600 card. The Roberto '71 sells far less frequently - and for as much as $1300?!?!?

I'll call that a foul ball since the '60 Mantle is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, during my Summer of Slabs sale of the Alex Ovechkin BGS 9.5 RC, I considered upgrading the Mantle and acquiring a Clemente. 

And that's when I spied this beauty: 

This was available for $1500 - an exorbitant amount for a single card but about the same cost as a '71 Clemente PSA 7 and a Mantle '60 PSA 5 combined. I could squeeze it into the budget if I get this instead. It's a high-grade card of an iconic player, from the year his team somehow beat Mantle's Yanks in the World Series.

The website offering this card did not take PayPal (booooo!) but they did have a layaway payment plan (yaaayy!) so I swallowed hard and added this to my order. While we negotiated the payment structure he pulled the cards and realized... he'd sold the Clemente at a recent card show. 

Strike three. 

"Is there anything you would like instead?" The seller asked.

Yes. Yes there was. 

And it's going to be the capstone of my collection. 

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